Rail bond



June 15, 1937. H. H. FEBREY 2,083,946

RAIL BOND Filed July 11, 1931 2 Sheets-She et 1 Heel- Pmfectire Mass INVENTOR ATTORNEYS June 15, 1937. H. FEBR' Y RAIL BOND Filed July '11, 1931 2 Sheets-sheet 2 g3, iNvENToR Jfaroldffim Patented June 15, 1937 RAIL BOND Harold H. Febrey, South Orange, N. J., assignor to The American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application my 11, 1951, Serial No. 550,225 2 Claims. (01. its-278i This invention relates to rail bonds and more particularly to welded rail bond assemblies of the type disclosed and claimed in my copending applications, Serial No. 134,454 filed September 9, 1926 5 and'Serial No, 137,457 filed September 24, 1926 now issued as United States Patents Nos. 2,008,786 and 2,008,787 respectively bearing the date July Briefly the rail bond product of my copendin'g application comprises a terminal and at least one flexible conductor buttweldedthereto; the buttweld union being made to theterminal at a face thereof remote from the face to be attached to the rail face;

One of the objects of the present invention is to improve the rail bond product disclosed and claimed in the above identified application.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved welded rail bond assembly.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the invention is more fully disclosed.

In accordance with the objects of the present invention I have found that an improved rail bond product may be obtained by comprising the terlninal thereof of two parts or sections, a base part and a shelf part. The two parts are substantially integral and comprised of .the same identical electrically conductive metal, the shelf part,- however, facilitates the welding of the terminal to a rail face and the base part by being interposed between the shelf and the buttweld joint of conductor to the base prevents the heating up of the conductor wires during the welding of the terminal to the rail face.

Before further disclosing the natureand scope of the present invention reference should be made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive illustrate the rail bond product of the present-invention in several views and modifications.

Figs. 6 to 13 inclusive illustrate the manner of uniting the rail bond products of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive to a rail face.

Referring to the drawings the rail bond products illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive comprise a terminal consisting of a base portion I, and a 'shelf portion 2, to the base portion of which is united at least one flexible conductor 3 at a face 4 remote from the face to which the shelf portion is attached. In accordance with the teaching of my copending application above identified the conductor 3 is united to t-he face 4 of the terminal Preferably the terminal is comprised of soft steel stock and may be cast shaped or drop forged to the size, shape or configuration shown. The latter is preferred. For this purpose I have found that a soft steel stock comprising carbon 5 .01-10%; manganese .50-.70% sulfur .150-175%; and phosphorus .05% max. is preferable. This type of steel has, electrical resistivity of 5 microhms per cubic inch or 12.7 microhms per cubic centimeter. When drop forged, the electrical resistivity rises to about 13.5 microhms per cubic centimeter.-

The dimensions of the terminals may vary widelydepending upon the contemplated serviceconditions and upon the desired current carrying capacity of the same during the buttwelding of the conductor thereto. In some types of rail bonds the exact configuration of the terminals shown in the drawings in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive may be departed from without departing essentially from the inventive idea of comprising the base part I of sucha mass of material that the heat conductivity therethrough during the welding of the shelf part of the terminal to a rail face, is insufficient to deleteriously effect the physical characteristics of the conductor atthe point where it is buttwelded thereto. It has been determined that the copper conductor may not be heated to temperatures in excess of 1200 F. to 1400" F; without deleterlously effecting the physical characteristics thereof.

- For example, I have found that in the type illustrated in Fig. l the base Lmay have a thickness between the face to which shelf 2 is attached and face 4- to which the conductor is Welded of approximately inch where the other two 1 dimensions are x 1%" respectively.

In the types illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive the mass of base I varies materially depending upon the contemplated service condition but such 0 variations are usually taken care of by varying the width of the terminal rather than the thickness of the base I. The thickness or diameter may vary between V to and the Width from 1% u t i!- tened face 6 to facilitate the mounting of the bond The overall length of the terminal varies from base I by buttwelding the same thereto. A sleeve 5 encloses the end of the conductor 3, and is also 66 buttwelded to the face I.

to a rail face. The sides thereof also may be'flattened slightly for the same purpose. The thicknessof shelf 2 is preferably kept at about 's".

1 to 1%", I 50 In thedesign illustrated in Fig. 3 a hook memher I is provided to facilitate the gripping of a rail. In Fig. 5 the" shelf portion 2 is shown displaced-at right angles to the longitudinal axis of Preferably the terminal has a fiat- 45 the rail bond to facilitate the uniting of the same 5 illustrated in Fig. 2 is attached to a face of the rail II. The flattened side face of the rail bond terminal is placed upon the face of the rail and held in position in any convenient manner and the shelf 2 is welded to the rail face in any convenient manner, as for example by flame, are or electric resistance methods. The type of weld union obtained is illustrated at I.

Figs. 7 and 8 are a cross-sectional jriew and a longitudinal sectional view taken alimg planes and H respectively in Fig. 8, and bring out the characteristic features-of the rail bond and the proportionate relationship of parts whereby the specific advantages of the present invention are obtained In Fig. 8 the relative great distance of the conductor-3 from weld 8 and the approximate proportionate size of the interposed mass of base I is shown.

Fig. 9 illustrates a second method of uniting the rail bond of Figs. 2 and 4 to a rail face.

In Figs. 10 and 12 is illustrated the manner in which the type of rail bond illustrated in Fig. l is united to the'face of a rail ll. In this type of bond the longitudinal edge of the shelf 2 is abutted next to the rail face and welded thereto by flame or arc welding methods. The over lapping of the edges of shelf 2 protect the buttwelded union of conductor 3 and base I at face 4 thereon from a direct play of the flame or arc. The thickness of base I prevents the conduction of a deleterious amount of he'atenergy to the face I thereof. Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken alon plane i2-l2, Fig. 10.

.1 :f. Figs. 11 and 13 illustrate the manner of ing the rail bond illustrated in Fig. 5 to the base 40 of a rail l0. The hooked over shelf portion 2 is placed upon the base of the rail II and welded tions made of the specific embodiments herein disclosed without departing essentially'from the nature and scope thereof as may be set forth in the following claims. What is claimed: 1. Means for making an electrical connection to a rail comprising a stranded conductor and .a. terminal member attached to the butt end of said conductor, said terminal member consistmetal provided with a face to which the end of the conductor is attached and a shelf portion on the opposite side of said body portion tor during the welding of the said shelf portion to -a rail to a temperature deleteriously effecting the physical characteristics of said conductor.

2. Means for making an electrical connection to a rail comprising a stranded copper conductor and a terminal member attached to the butt end of said conductor, said terminal member consisting of a body portion comprised of a ferrous metal provided with a face to which the end of theconductor is attached and a shelf portion on the opposite side of said body portion shaped to adapt the said shelf portion to be welded to a rail, the thickness of the body portion in between said face and said' shelf portion approximating one-half to three-fourths inch and the crosssectional area thereof being adapted to provide a sufficient volume of said body portion .in between said face and shelf portion to prevent the heating up of the end of the conductor during the welding ofthe said shelf portion to a rail to temperatures approximating 1200 F. and

'ing of a body portion comprised of a ferrous 

